don’t think George would have gone for an early bathe without telling me,’ said
Anne. ‘And I also think I would surely have woken up just for a moment when she
came back after taking Sally down - oh Julian, I think something happened when
she went downstairs with Sally late last night!’
‘I’ve
been thinking that too,’ said Julian soberly. ‘We know that there was someone
about last night, because George saw a face outside the window. Let’s go back
to the house and see if we can spot anything to help us near the garden door or
the kennel.’
They
went back, looking very anxious. As soon as they began to look about near the
kennel, Anne gave an exclamation and bent down. She picked up something and
held it out to the others without a word.
‘What
is it - gosh, it’s the girdle off George’s dressing-gown!’ said Dick, startled.
‘That proves it! George was caught when she came down to put Sally into her
kennel!’
‘They
must have thought she was me,’ said Berta, in tears. ‘You see - she was
carrying Sally and they know Sally belongs to me - and she has short hair too
and dresses like a boy in the daytime.’
‘That’s
it!’ said Julian. ‘Actually you look like a boy in your boy’s things, but
George doesn’t - and the kidnappers are looking for a girl dressed as a boy -
and George fitted the bill nicely, especially as she had the poodle with her.
She’s been kidnapped!’
‘And
will my father get the usual note to say his daughter will not be harmed if he
does what the kidnappers want, and hands over this new secret?’ said Berta.
‘Sure
to,’ said Julian.
‘What
will they say when they know they’ve got George, not me?’ asked Berta.
‘Well...’
said Julian, considering. ‘I really don’t know. They might try the same thing
with Uncle Quentin, but of course, he hasn’t got the figures they want.’
‘What
about Berta now?’ asked Dick. ‘Once those men find they’ve got the wrong girl,
they’ll be after Berta in a trice!’
‘George
won’t tell them,’ said Anne, at once. ‘She’ll know that Berta would be in
immediate danger if she did tell them - so she’ll say nothing as long as she
can.’
‘Would
she really?’ said Berta, wonderingly. ‘She’s brave, isn’t she? She could get
herself set free at once if she said she wasn’t me, and proved it. Gee, she’s
wunnerful if she could do a thing like that!’
‘George
is brave all right,’ said Dick. ‘As brave as any boy could be when she’s in a
fix! Julian, let’s go and tell Joan. We’ve GOT to make up our minds what we are
going to do about this - and also, we must safeguard Berta somehow. She can’t
possibly wander round with us any more.’
Berta
all at once began to feel scared. George’s sudden disappearance had brought
home to her the very real danger she was in. She had not really believed in it
before. She looked over her shoulder and all round and about as if she expected
someone to pounce on her.
‘It’s
all right, Berta - there’s no one here at present!’ said Dick, comfortingly.
‘But you’d better get indoors, all the same. I don’t think George would give
away the fact that she wasn’t you, but the men might find out some other way -
and back they would come, hotfoot!’
Berta
raced indoors as if someone was chasing her! Julian shut and locked the garden
door and called Joan.
They
had a very serious conference indeed. Joan was horrified. She wept when she
heard that George must have been kidnapped in the middle of the night. She
wiped her eyes with her apron.
‘I
said we must lock the doors and the windows, I said we must tell the police -
and then Miss George has to go down all by herself into the garden!’ she said.
‘If only she hadn’t had the poodle with her! No wonder they thought she was
Berta, with Sally in her arms.’
‘Listen,
Joan,’ said Julian. ‘There are a lot of things to do. First we must tell the
police. Then somehow we must contact Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin - it’s so
like them not to give us an address! Then we must most certainly decide about
Berta. She must be well hidden away somewhere.’
‘Yes.
That’s certain,’ said Joan, wiping her eyes again. She sat and thought for a
minute, and then her face lightened.
‘I
know where we could hide her!’ she said. ‘You remember Jo - the little gypsy
girl you’ve had one or two adventures with?’
‘Yes,’
said Julian. ‘She lives with your cousin now, doesn’t she?’
‘She
does,’ said Joan. ‘And my cousin would have Berta straightaway if she knew
about this.  She
often does.’
‘It
really seems an idea,’ said Dick. ‘Doesn’t it, Julian? We’ve simply got to get
Berta away at once. We could trust Jo to look after her, too - Jo’s as sharp as
a packet of needles!’
‘The
police would know, too,’ said Julian, ‘and would keep an eye on her as well.
Joan, can you ring up and get a taxi and take Berta now, this very minute?’
‘It’ll
be a surprise for my cousin, my arriving this time of the morning,’ said Joan,
standing up and taking off her apron, ‘but she’s quick on the uptake, and
she’ll do it, I know. Master Lesley, get a few things together - nothing posh,
mind, like your silver hairbrush.’
Berta
looked extremely scared by now, and was inclined to refuse to go.
‘Look,’
he said, ‘I bet George is holding her tongue so that we can get you away in
safety before the men tumble to the fact that they’ve got the wrong boy - so
you can play up, too, can’t you, and be brave?’
‘Yes,’
said Berta, looking up at Julian’s kind, serious face. ‘I’ll do what you say -
but what’s this Jo like? Joan said she was a little gypsy girl. I don’t like
gypsies.’
‘You’ll
like this one all right,’ said Julian. ‘She’s a pickle and a scamp and a
scallywag - but her heart’s in the right place - isn’t it, Joan?’
Joan
nodded. She had always been fond of the reckless, cheeky little Jo, and it was
she who had found a home for her when Jo’s father had had to go to prison.
‘Come on, Master Lesley,’ she said. ‘We must hurry. Master Julian, is she to go
as a girl or a boy now - we’ve got to decide that too.’
‘A
girl, please - please, please, a girl!’ said Berta, at once.
Julian
considered. ‘Yes, I think you’re right,’ he said. ‘You’d better be a girl now -
but for goodness’ sake don’t call yourself Berta yet.’
‘She
can be Jane,’ said Joan, firmly. ‘That’s a nice name, but quite ordinary enough
for nobody to notice. Berta is too noticeable a name. Come along, now - we’ll
have to pick out your simplest clothes!’
‘Now
I’ll ring up the police,’ said Julian, ‘and also ring for a taxi.’
‘No,
don’t get a taxi for us,’ said Joan. ‘I don’t want to arrive at my cousin’s
little cottage in a taxi, and make everyone stare! Jane and I will catch the
market bus and people will think I’m going off to market. We can get another
bus there, that will take us almost all the way to my cousin’s. We’ve only to
walk down the lane then.’
‘Good
idea,’ said Julian, and went to the telephone. He got hold of the police
sergeant, and told his tale. The man showed not the least excitement, but took
down quickly all that Julian told him. ‘I’ll be up in ten minutes,’ he said.
‘Wait in till I come.’
Julian
put down the receiver. Dick and Anne were watching him with troubled eyes. What
was happening to George? Was she frightened - or furious - or perhaps hurt?
Timmy
was absolutely miserable. He knew by now that something had happened to George.
He had gone a dozen times to the place where her dressing-gown girdle had been
found, and had sniffed round disconsolately.
Sally
knew he was unhappy and trotted after him soberly. When he lay down she lay
down beside him. When he got up, she got up too. It would have been amusing to
watch if anyone had felt like being amused. But nobody felt that way!
Footsteps
came up the path. ‘The police!’ said Julian. ‘They’ve not been long!’
Chapter
Fifteen
DISCOVERIES
IN THE WOOD
The
sergeant had come and also a constable. Anne felt comforted when she saw the
big, solid, responsible-looking men. Julian took them into the sitting-room,
and began to tell all that had happened.
In
the middle of it there came the sound of footsteps racing down the stairs, and
up the hall. ‘We’re just off!’ shouted Joan’s voice. ‘Can’t stop to say
good-bye, or we shall miss the bus!’
Down
the garden path rushed Joan, carrying a small suitcase of her own, which she
had lent Berta, because Berta’s was too grand. In it she had packed the very
simplest of Berta’s clothes, but secretly she had thought that she would tell
her cousin to dress Berta in some of Jo’s things.
Berta
ran behind her - a different Berta now, dressed in a frock instead of jeans and
jersey. She waved to the others as she went, trying to smile.
‘Good
old Berta!’ said Dick. ‘She’s got quite a lot in her, that kid.’
‘In
fact, she’s quite a honey!’ said Julian, trying to make Anne smile.
‘What’s
all that?’ said the sergeant, in surprise, nodding his head towards the front
path, down which Joan and Berta had just rushed.
Julian
explained. The sergeant frowned. ‘You shouldn’t have arranged about that till
you’d consulted us,’ he said. Julian was quite taken aback.
‘Well,
you see,’ he said, ‘it seemed to me that I must get Berta out of the house and
hidden away at once in case the kidnappers realised quickly that they’d got the
wrong girl.’
‘That’s
so,’ said the sergeant. ‘Still, you should have consulted us. It seems quite a
good idea to put her in that quiet village, with Jo to see to her - she’s
sharp, that Jo. I wouldn’t put it past her to hoodwink the kidnappers any day!
But this is a very serious business, you realise, Master Julian - it can’t be
dealt with by children.’
‘Can
you get George back?’ asked Anne, breaking in with the question she had been
longing to ask ever since the police came.
‘Maybe,’
said the sergeant. ‘Now I’ll get in touch with your aunt and uncle, Master
Julian, and with Mr Elbur Wright, and...’
The
telephone rang just then and Anne answered it. ‘It’s for you, Sergeant,’ she
said, and he took the receiver from her.
‘Ha.
Hm. Just so. Yes, yes. Right. Ha. Hm.’ The sergeant replaced the receiver and
went back to Julian and the others. ‘News has just come in that the kidnappers
have contacted Mr Elbur Wright, and told him they’ve got his daughter Berta,’
he said.
‘Oh!
And have they demanded that he shall tell them the secret figures he knows?’
asked Julian.
The
sergeant nodded. ‘Yes.  He’s promised to
give them all they want. Very foolish!’
‘Gosh
- you’d better tell him it’s not Berta they’ve got, but George,’ said Dick.
‘Then he’ll sit tight!’
The
sergeant frowned. ‘Now, you leave this to us,’ he said, ponderously. ‘You’ll
only hinder us if you interfere or try meddling on your own.
With George kidnapped and in danger'?’ exploded Dick. ‘What are you going to do
to get her back?’
‘Now,
now!’ said the sergeant, annoyed. ‘She is in no danger - she’s not the person
they want. They will free her as soon as they realise that.’
‘They
won’t,’ said Dick. ‘They’ll get on to her father and make him give up a few
secrets!’
‘Well,
that will give us a little more time to find these men,’ said the irritating
sergeant, and he stood up, big and burly in his navy blue uniform. ‘Let me know
at once if you have any other news, and please do not try to meddle. I assure
you that we know the right things to do.’
He
went out with the constable. Julian groaned. ‘He doesn’t see that this is
urgent. It’s so complicated too - the wrong girl kidnapped, the wrong father
informed, the right one not at all inclined to give up powerful secrets - and
poor old George not knowing what is happening!’
‘Well,
thank goodness we got Berta out of the way,’ said Dick.
I think I’m just shocked - and oh dear, I feel awfully empty!’ said Anne,
pressing her tummy.
‘Gosh
- we forgot all about breakfast!’ said Dick staring at the clock. ‘And it’s
almost ten o’clock now! What have we been doing all this time? Come on, Anne -
get us some food, there’s a dear. We shall all feel better then.’
‘I’m
so sorry for poor old Timmy and little Sally,’ said Anne, going into the
kitchen. ‘Timmy, darling, don’t look at me like that! I don’t know where your
beloved George is, or I’d take you to her straight away!
They
were soon sitting down to a plain breakfast of boiled eggs, toast and butter.
It seemed queer only to be three. Dick tried to make conversation, but the
other two were very quiet. Timmy sat under the table with his head on Anne’s
foot, and Sally stood beside her, paws on her knee. Anne comforted both the
mournful dogs as best she could!
After
breakfast Anne went to wash up and make the beds, and the boys went outside to
have another look at the place where George’s dressing-gown girdle had been
found. Sally and Timmy came with them.
Timmy
sniffed around a good bit, and then, nose to ground, went down the garden path
to the front gate, and then pushed it open and went through it. Nose to ground
he went down the lane and turned off into a little path.
‘Dick
- he’s following some kind of trail,’ said Julian. ‘I’m certain it’s George’s.
Even if somebody carried her away, Timmy is clever enough to know George might
be with him - he might just get a whiff of her.’
‘Come
on then - let’s follow Timmy,’ said Dick, and the boys and Sally went along the
little path, hot on Timmy’s track. Timmy began to run, and Dick called to him.
‘Not
so fast, old boy! We’re coming too.’
But
Timmy did not slow down. Whatever it was he smelt, the scent was quite strong.
The boys ran after him, beginning to feel excited.
But
soon Timmy came to a full stop, in a little clearing in the wood. Dick and
Julian panted up to where he was nosing round. He looked up at them forlornly.
Evidently the scent came to an end there.
‘Car-tracks!’
said Dick, pointing down to where the dampish grass under a great oak tree had
been rutted with big tyre-marks. ‘See? The men brought a car here and hid it,
then crept through the woods to Kirrin Cottage, and waited for a chance to get
Berta.  The house was well
and truly locked and bolted!’
Julian
was looking at the wheel-tracks. ‘These tracks were made by very big tyres,’ he
said. ‘It was a car - and I rather think these are American tyre-marks. I can
check that when I get back - I’ll go and ask Jim, at the local garage - he’ll
know. I’ll just sketch one quickly.’
He
took out a notebook and pencil and began to sketch. Dick bent down and looked
more carefully at the tracks. ‘There is quite a lot of criss-crossing of
tracks,’ he said. ‘I think the men came here and waited. Then, when they got
George, they must have pushed her into the car, and turned it to go back the
way they came - see, the tracks lead down that wide path over there. They made
a mess of the turning, though - bumped into this tree, look - there’s a mark
right across it.’
‘Where?’
said Julian at once. ‘Yes - a bright blue mark - the car was that colour - or
the wings were, at any rate. Well, that’s something we’ve learnt! A big blue
car, probably American. Surely the police could trace that?’
‘Timmy’s
still nosing round, the picture of misery,’ said Dick. ‘Poor old Tim. I expect
he knows George was pushed into a car just there. Hallo - he’s scraping at something!’
They
ran to see what it was. Timmy was trying to get at some small object embedded
in a car-rut. Evidently, in turning, the car had run over whatever it was.
Dick
saw something broken in half - something green. He picked up the halves. ‘A
comb! Did George have a little green comb like this?’
‘Yes.
She did,’ said Julian. ‘She must have thrown it down when she got near to the
car - to show us she was taken here - hoping we would find it. And look, what’s
that?’
It
was a handkerchief hanging on a gorse bush. Julian ran to it. It had the
initial G on it in blue.
‘Yes,
it’s George’s,’ he said. ‘She’s got six of these, all with different-coloured
initials. She must have thrown this out too. Quick, Dick, look for anything
else she might have thrown out of the car, while they were trying to turn it.
They would probably put her in the back, and she would just have had a chance
to throw out anything she had in her dressing-gown pocket, to let us know she
was here if we came along this way.’
They
searched for a long time. Timmy found one more thing, again embedded in a
car-rut - a boiled sweet wrapped in cellophane paper.
‘Look!’
said Dick, picking it up. ‘One of the sweets we all had the other night! George
must have had one in her dressing-gown pocket! If only she had had a pencil and
bit of paper - she might have had time to write a note too!’
‘That’s
an idea!’ said Julian. ‘We’ll hunt even more carefully"
But
although they searched every bit of ground and every bush, there was no note to
be found. It was too much to hope for!
‘Let’s
just follow the car-tracks and make sure they reached the road,’ said Julian.
So they followed them down the wide woodland path.
At
the side, a little way along, a piece of paper blew in the wind, hopping an
inch or two each time the breeze flapped it.
‘She
did have time to write a note! This is her writing. But there’s only one word,
look - whatever does it mean?’
 Yes, it was George’s writing - the G
was exactly like the way she always wrote the big G at the beginning of her
signature.
‘Gringo,’
read Julian. ‘Just that one word. Gringo! What does it mean? It’s something she
heard them say, I suppose - and she just had time to write it and throw out the
paper. Gringo! Timmy, what does Gringo mean?’
Chapter
Sixteen
JO!
Dick
and Julian went back to Kirrin Cottage with the two disconsolate dogs. They
showed Anne the things they had found, and she too puzzled over the word
Gringo.
‘We’ll
have to tell the police what you have discovered,’ she said. ‘They might trace
the car, and they might know who or what Gringo is.’
‘I’ll
telephone them now,’ said Julian. ‘Dick, you go down to the garage with this
sketch of the tyre-mark, and see if it’s an American design.’
The
police were interested but not helpful. The sergeant said he would send his
constable up to examine the place where the car had stood in the clearing, and
gave it as his opinion that the bit of paper wasn’t much use, as the boys had
found it some way from the turning-place of the car.
‘Your
cousin wouldn’t be able to throw it out of the window once the car was going,’
he said. ‘There would be sure to be someone in the back with her. The only
reason she could throw things out at the clearing would be because the second
fellow - and there would certainly be two - would be guiding the other man in
the turning of the car.’
‘The
wind might have blown the note along the path,’ said Julian. ‘Anyway, I’ve given
you the information.’
It
was a very miserable day, although the sun shone down warmly, and the sea was
blue and most inviting. But nobody wanted to bathe, nobody really wanted to do
anything but talk and talk about George and what had happened, and where she
could be at that moment!
Joan
came back in time to get their lunch, and was pleased to find that Anne had
done the potatoes and prepared a salad, and that Dick had managed to pick some
raspberries. They were very glad to see Joan. She was someone sensible and
comforting and matter-of-fact.
‘Well,
Miss Jane is now safely in my cousin’s cottage,’ she said. ‘She was very
miserable but I told her she must smile and play about, else the neighbours
would wonder about her. I put her into some of Jo’s clothes - they fitted her
all right. Hers are too expensive-looking, and would make people talk!’
They
told Joan what they had discovered in the clearing that morning. She took the
note and looked at it. ‘Gringo!’ she said.  It’s a pity Jo isn’t here - she might tell us what it means!’
‘Did
you see Jo?’ asked Dick.
‘No.
She was out shopping,’ said Joan, lifting the lid to look at the potatoes. ‘I
only hope she gets on with Miss Jane all right. Really, it’s getting very
difficult to remember that child’s change of names!’
The
only fresh news that day was a worried telephone-call from Aunt Fanny. She was
shocked and amazed at the news she had heard. ‘Your uncle has collapsed!’ she
said. ‘He has been working very hard, you know, and now this news of George has
been quite the last straw. He’s very ill. I can’t leave him at the moment - but
anyway we couldn’t do anything! Only the police can help now. To think those
horrible men took George by mistake!’
‘Don’t
worry too much, Aunt Fanny,’ said Julian. ‘We’ve hidden Berta away safely, and
I expect the men will free George as soon as she tells them she’s the wrong
girl.’
‘If
she does tell them!’ said Dick, under his breath. ‘She might not, for Berta’s
sake, for a few days at any rate!’
Everyone
went miserable to bed that night. Anne took Timmy and Sally with her, for both
were so forlorn that she couldn’t bear to do anything else. Timmy wouldn’t eat
anything at all, and Anne was worried about him.
Julian
could not go to sleep. He tossed and turned, thinking about George.
Hot-tempered, courageous, impatient, independent George! He worried and worried
about her, wishing he could do something!
A
small stone suddenly rattled against his window! He sat up, alert at once. Then
something fell right into the room, and rolled over the floor. Julian was at
the window in a trice. Who was throwing pebbles at his window?
He
leaned out. A voice came up to him at once. ‘Is it you, Dick?’
‘Jo!
What are you doing here?’ said Julian, startled. ‘It’s Julian speaking. Dick’s
asleep. I’ll wake him, and let you in.’
But
he did not need to go down and let Jo in. She was up a tree outside the window
and across some ivy and on his window-sill before he had even shaken Dick
awake!
She
slid into the room. Julian switched on his light. There was Jo, sitting at the
end of Dick’s bed, the familiar cheeky grin on her face! She was very brown,
but still showed her freckles, and her hair was as short and curly as ever.
‘I
had to come,’ she said. ‘When I got home from shopping, there was this girl
Jane! She told me all about how George had been captured in mistake for her -
and when I said to her, “You go straightaway and say you’re safe and sound, and
it’s all a mistake, and George has got to be set free!” she wouldn’t! She just
wouldn’t!  Little coward!’
‘No,
no, Jo,’ said Dick, and tried to explain everything to the indignant girl. But
he could not convince her.
‘If
I was that girl Jane I wouldn’t let someone stay kidnapped because of me,’ she
said. ‘I don’t like her, she’s silly. And I’m supposed to keep an eye on her!
Phoo! Not me! I’d like her to be kidnapped, the way she’s behaving about
George.’
Julian
looked at Jo. She was very, very loyal to the Five, and proud of being their
friend. She had been in two adventures with them now, an artful little gypsy
girl, but a very loyal friend. Her father was in prison, and she was living
with a cousin of Joan’s, and, for the first time in her life, going to school to
learn lessons!
‘Listen,
Jo - we’ve found out a few more things since Berta - I mean Lesley - no, I
don’t, I mean Jane...’
‘What
do you mean?’ said Jo, puzzled.
‘I
mean Jane,’ said Julian. ‘We’ve found out something else since Joan parked Jane
with her cousin this morning.’
‘Go
on, tell me,’ said Jo. ‘Have you found out where George is? I’ll go and break
in and get her out, if you do!’
‘Oh
Jo - it’s no use just being fierce,’ said Dick. ‘Things are not so easy as all
that!’
‘George
threw out a bit of paper with this written on it,’ said Julian, and he put it
before Jo. ‘See? Just that one word - “Gringo”. Does it mean anything to you?’
‘Gringo?’
said Jo. ‘That rings a bell! Let’s see now - Gringo!’
She
frowned as she thought hard. Then she nodded. ‘Oh yes, I remember now. A Fair
came to the town a few weeks back - the big town not far from our village. It
was called Gringo’s Great Fair.’
‘Where
did it go?’ asked Dick, eagerly.
‘It
was going to Fallenwick, then to Granton,’ said Jo. ‘I made friends with the
boy whose father owned the roundabout, and gosh, I had about a hundred free
rides.’
‘You
would!’ said both boys together, and Jo grinned.
‘Do
you suppose this Gringo, who runs the Fair, could be anything to do with the
name Gringo that George wrote on this paper?’ said Julian.
‘I
dunno!’ said Jo. ‘But if you like I can go and find the Fair and get hold of
Spiky - that’s the roundabout boy - and see if I can find out anything. I know
Spiky said Gringo was a real horror to work for, and thought himself as good as
a lord!’
‘Had
he a car - a big car?’ asked Dick, suddenly.
‘I
dunno that either,’ said Jo. ‘I can find out. Here - I’ll go now! You lend me a
bike and I’ll bike to Granton?’
‘Certainly
not,’ said Julian, startled at the idea of Jo biking the twelve miles to
Granton in the middle of the night.
‘All
right,’ said Jo, rather sulkily. ‘I just thought you’d like me to help. It
might be that this Gringo has got George somewhere. He was the kind of fellow
who was a go-between, if you know what I mean.’
‘How?’
asked Dick.
‘Well,
Spiky said that if anyone wanted something dirty done, this Gringo just held
out his hand, and if a wad of notes was put into it, he’d do it, and nothing
said!’ said Jo.
‘I
see,’ said Julian. ‘Hm - it sounds as if kidnapping would be right up his
street, then.’
Jo
laughed scornfully. ‘That would be nothing to him - chicken-feed.  ‘Thanks very, very much, but I’m not letting anyone ride to a Fair
in the middle of the night to find out if a fellow called Gringo has anything
to do with George. I can’t believe he has, either - it’s too far-fetched.’
‘All
right. But you asked me if the name meant anything to me,’ said Jo, sounding
offended. ‘Anyway, it’s a common enough nickname in the Circus world and the
Fair world too. There’s probably a thousand Gringos about!’
‘It’s
time you went back home,’ said Julian, looking at his watch. ‘And be decent to
Berta - I mean Jane - please, Jo. You can come over tomorrow to see if there’s
any more news. How did you get here tonight, by the way?’
‘Walked,’
said Jo. ‘Well - ran, I mean. Not by the roads, though - they take too long. I
go like the birds do - as straight as I can, and it’s much shorter!’
Dick
had a sudden picture of the valiant little Jo speeding through woods and
fields, over hills and through valleys, as straight as a crow flying homewards.
How did she find her way like that? He knew he would never be able to!
Jo
slipped out over the window-sill, and down the tree, as easily as a cat. ‘Bye!’
she said. ‘See you soon.’
‘Give
our love to Jane,’ whispered Dick.
‘Shan’t!’
said Jo, much too loudly, and disappeared.
Julian
switched out the light. ‘Whew!’ he said, ‘I always feel as if I’ve been blown
about by a strong, fresh wind when I see Jo.  Fancy wanting to ride
all the way to Granton tonight, after running all the way here from Berta’s!’
‘Yes.
 ‘It’s a good
thing she wouldn’t dare to disobey you!’
He
got into bed - and just at that very moment the two boys heard a loud ringing
noise.
‘Well
I’m blowed!’ he said. ‘The little wretch!’
‘What’s
up?’ said Julian, and then he too realised what the ringing was - a Bicycle
Bell. Yes, a bell rung loudly and defiantly by someone cycling swiftly along
the sea-road towards Granton!
‘It’s
Jo!’ said Dick. ‘And she’s taken my bike! I know its bell. Gosh, won’t I rub
her face in the mud when I get hold of her!’
Julian
gave a loud guffaw.  What a cheek she’s got! She didn’t dare to take my bike when I’d said
no - so she took yours. Well - we can’t do a thing about it now. What that
roundabout boy is going to think when he’s awakened in the middle of the night
by Jo, I cannot imagine.’
‘He’s
probably used to her,’ said Dick. ‘Well, let’s go to sleep. I wonder if George
is asleep or awake? I hate to think of her a prisoner somewhere.’
‘I
bet Timmy hates it more than we do,’ said Dick, hearing a long-drawn whimper
from the next room. ‘Poor old Tim. He can’t go to sleep either!’
Dick
and Julian managed to go to sleep at last, both thinking of a speedy little
figure on a bicycle, racing through the night to ask questions of a roundabout
boy called Spiky!
Chapter
Seventeen
TO
GRINGO’S FAIR
At
half past seven next morning Joan came running upstairs to Julian’s bedroom, a
piece of paper in her hand. She knocked on the door.
‘Master
Julian!  It’s folded over with your name on the outside.’
Julian
was out of bed in a trice. A note from the kidnappers perhaps? No - it couldn’t
be. They wouldn’t write to him!
It
was from Jo! She had scribbled it so badly that Julian could hardly read it.
‘Julian,
I saw Spiky, he’s coming to the beech at levven I took Dick’s bike to go home
on I will bring it back at levven, don’t be too cross. Jo.’
‘I
suppose “beech” doesn’t mean a tree, it means the beach, the sands,’ said Dick.
‘And “levven” means eleven o’clock. Little scallywag - I hope she hasn’t
damaged my bike in any way.’
Jo
hadn’t. She had actually managed to find time to clean it before she left home,
and arrived with it so bright and gleaming that Dick hadn’t the heart to scold
her!
She
was early so she came to the house instead of the beach. She rode through the
gate and up the front path and Timmy ran to greet her with a volley of
delighted barks. He liked Jo - in fact he really loved the little gypsy girl.
She certainly had a way with animals! Sally followed, dancing on her tiptoes as
usual, ready to welcome as a friend anyone that Timmy liked.
 ‘Hallo, bicycle-stealer! My word,
what’s happened to my bike - have you spring-cleaned it?’
Jo
grinned, looking at Dick warily. ‘Yes. I’m sorry I took it, Dick.’
‘You’re
not a bit sorry - but I’ll forgive you,’ said Dick, grinning too. ‘So you got
to the Fair safely after all?’
‘Oh
yes - and I woke up Spiky - he wasn’t half surprised,’ said Jo. ‘But his Pa was
sleeping in the same caravan as he was, so I couldn’t say much. I just told him
to be on Kirrin Beach at eleven. Then I rode back home. I ought to have left
your bike on the way back, but I was a bit tired, so I rode home, instead of
walking.
‘You
can’t have had much sleep last night,’ said Julian, looking at the sunburnt
girl with her untidy curly hair. ‘Hallo - who’s that?’
A
short, plump boy was hurrying past the gate. He had a mop of black hair which
stuck up into curious spikes of hair at the crown.
‘Oh
- that’s Spiky!’ said Jo. ‘He’s on time, isn’t he? He’s called Spiky because of
his hair. You won’t believe it, but he spends a fortune on hair-oil, trying to
make those spiky bits go flat. But they won’t.’ She called loudly.
‘Spiky!
Hey, SPIKY!’
Spiky
turned at once. He had a pleasant, rather lopsided face, and eyes as black as
currants. He stood staring at Jo and the boys. ‘I’m just off to the beach,’ he
said.
‘Right.
We’re coming too,’ said Jo, and she and the boys went to join. They met the
ice-cream man on the way and Julian bought an ice-cream for each of them.
‘Coo
- thanks,’ said Spiky, pleased. He was rather shy of Dick and Julian, and
wondered very much why he had been asked to come.
They
sat down on the beach. ‘I wasn’t half scared when you came tapping at the
window last night,’ he said to Jo, licking his ice-cream with a very pink
tongue. ‘What’s it all about?’
‘Well,’
said Julian, cautiously, ‘we’re interested in somebody called Gringo.’
‘Old
Gringo?’ said Spiky. ‘A lot of people’s interested in Gringo. Do you know what
we say at the Fair? We say Gringo ought to put up a notice. “All dirty work
done here!” He’s a bad lot, Gringo is - but he pays us well, even if he makes
us work like slaves.’
‘He
owns the Fair, doesn’t he?’ said Julian, and Spiky nodded. ‘I expect he uses it
as a cover for all his other, bigger jobs,’ Julian said to Dick. He looked at
the plump, black-eyed boy, wondering how far he could trust him. Jo saw the
look and knew what it meant.
‘He’s
all right,’ she said, nodding towards Spiky. ‘You can say what you like. He’s
an oyster, he is. Ain’t you, Spiky?’
Spiky
grinned his lop-sided grin. Julian decided to trust him, and speaking in a low
voice that really thrilled Spiky, he told him about the kidnapping of George.

‘Coo!’
he said. ‘I bet old Gringo’s at the bottom of that. Last week he went off up to
London - he told my Pa he was on to a big job - an American job, he said it
was.’
‘Yes
- it sounds as if it all fits,’ said Julian. ‘Spiky, this kidnapping happened
the night before last. Did anything unusual occur in the Fair camp, do you
know? It must have happened in the middle of the night.’
Spiky
considered. He shook his head. ‘No - I don’t think so. Gringo’s big
double-caravan is still there - so he can’t have gone. He had it moved right
away from the camp yesterday morning - said there was too much noise for his
old Ma, who lives in his posh caravan and looks after him. We was all glad it
was moved - now he can’t spy on us so easily!’
‘I
suppose you...’ began Julian, and then stopped as Dick gave an exclamation.
‘I’ve
got an idea!’ he said. ‘Suppose that caravan was moved for another reason -
suppose someone was making a row inside the van - someone shouting for help,
say! Gringo would have to move it away from the rest of the camp in case that
someone was heard.’
There
was a pause, and then Spiky nodded. ‘Yes. It could be,’ he said. ‘I’ve never
known Gringo move his caravan away from the camp before. Shall I do a bit of
snooping for you?’
‘Yes,’
said Julian, excited. ‘My word - it would be a bit of luck if we could find
George so quickly - and so near us too! A Fair camp would be a fine place to
hide her, of course. Thank goodness we found that bit of paper with “Gringo”
written on it!’
‘Let’s
all go to the Fair this afternoon,’ said Dick. ‘Timmy too. He’d smell out
George at once.’
‘Hadn’t
we better tell the police first?’ said Julian. At once Spiky and Jo got up in
alarm. Spiky looked as if he were going to run away immediately!
‘Don’t
you get the police, Julian!’ said Jo urgently. ‘You won’t get anything more out
of Spiky, if you do. Not a thing.’
‘I’m
going,’ said Spiky, still looking terrified.
‘No,
you’re not,’ said Dick, and caught hold of him. ‘We shan’t go to the police.
They might frighten off Gringo and make him smuggle George away at once. I’ve
no doubt he has plans to do so at any minute.  ‘He’s straight, see?’
Spiky
sat down, still looking wary. ‘If you’re coming to the Fair, come at four,’ he
said. ‘It’s half-day closing today for the towns around, and the place will be
packed. If you want to do any snooping, you won’t be noticed in that crowd.’
‘Right,’
said Julian. ‘We’ll be there. Look out for us, Spiky, in case you’ve got any
news.’
Spiky
then left, and the boys couldn’t help smiling at his back view - the spikes of
hair at the top of his head were so very noticeable!
‘You’d
better stay to lunch with us, Jo,’ said Dick, and the delighted girl beamed all
over her face.
‘Will
Joan’s cousin mind you not being back to dinner?’ asked Julian.
‘No.
I said I wouldn’t be back all day,’ said Jo. ‘It’s still school holidays, you
see. Anyway, I can’t stand that Jane - she moons about all the time - and she’s
got some of my clothes on, too.’
Jo
sounded so indignant about Berta that the boys had to laugh. They all went back
to Kirrin Cottage, and found Joan and Anne hard at work in the house.
‘Well,
you monkey!’ said Joan to Jo. ‘Up to tricks as usual, I hear. Throwing stones
at people’s windows in the middle of the night.  Now, put on that apron, and help round a bit.
How’s Miss Jane?
Joan
was most excited to hear about the boys’ latest ideas as to where George might
be. Julian gave her a warning.
‘But
no ringing up the police behind our backs this time, Joan,’ he said. ‘This is
something best done by Dick and me.’
‘Can’t
I come with Sally?’ asked Anne.
‘We
can’t possibly take Sally,’ said Dick, ‘in case Gringo’s about and recognises
her. So you’d better stay and look after her, and we’ll take Timmy. He would be
sure to smell where George is, if she’s hidden anywhere in the camp. But I
think she’s probably in Gringo’s own caravan.’
Timmy
pricked up his ears every time he heard George’s name mentioned. He was a very
miserable dog indeed, and kept running to the front gate, hoping to see George
coming along. Whenever they missed him, they knew where to find him - lying
mournfully on George’s empty bed - probably with an equally mournful Sally
beside him!
The
boys and Jo set off to the Fair about half past three, on their bicycles. Jo
rode Anne’s this time, and Timmy ran valiantly beside them. Jo glanced at
Dick’s bicycle from time to time, proud of its brilliant look - how well she
had cleaned it that morning!
They
came to the Fair. ‘You can put your bikes up against Spiky’s caravan,’ said Jo.
‘They’ll be safe there. Will you pay, and then we’ll get in straightaway? You
needn’t pay for me - I’m going through the gap in the hedge. I’m Spiky’s
friend, so it’s all right.’
She
gave Dick her bicycle and disappeared. Julian paid and went in at the gate.
They saw Jo waving wildly to them from the side of the big field and wheeled
the three bicycles over to her, Timmy following closely at their heels.
‘Hallo!’
said Spiky, appearing suddenly. ‘See you soon! I’ve got to go and ’tend to the
roundabout. I’ve got a bit of news, but not much. That’s Gringo’s caravan over
there, the double-one, big van in front, little van behind.’
He
nodded his head to where a most magnificent caravan stood, right away from the
rest of the camp. There were people milling about all round the other vans, but
there was nobody at all by Gringo’s. Evidently no one dared to go too near.
‘I
vote we buy a ball at one of the stands, and then go and play near Gringo’s
caravan,’ said Dick, in a low voice. ‘Then one of us will throw the ball too
hard and it will go near the van - and we’ll somehow manage to get a peep
inside. Timmy can go sniffing round while we play. If George is there he’ll
bark the place down.’
‘Jolly
good idea!’ said Julian. ‘Come on, Jo! And keep your eyes open all the time in
case you’ve got to warn us of danger.’
Chapter
Eighteen
SPIKY
IS VERY HELPFUL
The
two boys and Jo, with Timmy at their heels, wandered round the Fair to find
somewhere to buy a ball. There seemed to be none for sale, so they had a go at
a Hoopla stall, and Julian managed to get a ring round a small red ball. Just
the thing!
 The roundabout played its
loud, raucous music all the time, swings went to and fro, the dodgem cars
banged and bumped one another as usual, and men went round shouting their
wares.
‘Balloons!
Giant balloons! Three pence each!’
‘Ice-cream!
All flavours.’
‘Tell
your fortune, lady? I’ll tell it true as can be!’
Jo
was very much at home in the Fair. She had been brought up in one, and knew all
the tricks of the trade. Timmy was rather amazed at the noise, and kept close
to the boys, his tail still down because he could not forget that George was
missing.
‘Now
let’s play our little game of ball,’ said Julian. ‘Come on, Tim - and if we get
into any trouble, just growl and show your teeth, see?’
The
three of them, with Timmy, went to the clear space of field that separated the
magnificent caravan from the rest of the Camp. A man at a near-by stall called
to them.
‘Hey!
You’ll get into trouble if you play there!’ But they took no notice and he
shrugged his shoulders and began to shout his wares.
They
threw the ball to one another, and then Julian flung it so wildly that it ran
right up to the wheels of the front caravan of the pair. In a trice Dick and Jo
were after it. Jo leapt up on a wheel and looked in at the big window, while
Dick ran to the small van that was attached behind the big one.
A
quick glance assured Jo that the big caravan was empty. The interior was
furnished in a most luxurious way and looked like a very fine bed-sitting-room.
She leapt down.
Dick
peered into the window of the smaller van. At first he thought there was no one
there - and then he saw a pair of very fierce, angry eyes looking at him - the
eyes of a small, bent old woman with untidy hair.  She was sitting sewing in a bunk, and, as he looked in,
she shook her fist at him and called out something he couldn’t hear.
He
jumped down and joined the others. ‘No one at all in the big van,’ said Jo.
‘Only
a witch-like old woman in the other,’ reported Dick, in deep disappointment.
‘Unless George is pushed under a bunk or squashed into a cupboard, she’s
certainly not there!’
‘Timmy
doesn’t seem interested in the caravans at all, does he?’ said Julian. ‘I’m
sure if George really was in one of those caravans, he’d bark and try to get
inside.’
‘Yes
- I think he would,’ said Dick. ‘Hallo, there’s somebody coming out of the
second van. It’s the old lady! She’s in a fine old temper!’
So
she was! She came down the steps to the van, shouting and shaking her fist at
them. ‘Tim - go and find, go and find - in that van!’ said Julian, suddenly, as
the old woman came towards them.
The
three of them stood their ground as the old woman came right up. They couldn’t
understand a word she said, partly because she had no teeth, and partly because
she spoke a mixture of many languages. Anyway, it was quite obvious that she
was ticking them off for daring to play near the two vans.
Timmy
had understood what Julian had said, and had slipped inside the second van. He
was there for half a minute, and then he barked. The boys jumped, and Dick made
a move towards the van.
Then
Timmy appeared, dragging something behind him with his teeth. He tried to bark
at the same time, but he couldn’t. He dragged the coat-like thing right down to
the ground before the old woman was on him, screaming in a high voice, and
hitting him. She pulled the garment away and went up the steps, kicking out at
the surprised Timmy as he tried to pull it away. The door slammed.
‘If
that old woman hadn’t been old, Timmy would have soon shown her he was top
dog!’ said Dick. ‘Whatever was he pulling out of the van?’
‘Come
over here, out of sight of the van,’ said Julian, urgently. ‘Didn’t you
recognise it, Dick? It was George’s dressing-gown!’
‘My
word!’ said Dick, stopping in surprise. ‘Yes, you’re right - it was. Whew! What
does that mean exactly? George certainly isn’t in those vans, or Timmy would
have found her.’
‘I
sent him in to see if he could smell that George had been hidden there,’ said
Julian. ‘I thought he would bark excitedly if he smelt her scent anywhere - on
the bunk, perhaps. I never guessed he’d find her dressing-gown and drag it out
to show us!’
‘Good
old Timmy! Clever old Timmy!’ said Dick, patting the dog, whose tail was now at
half-mast instead of right down. He had at least found George’s dressing-gown -
but how surprising to find it in that caravan!
‘Why
on earth didn’t they take the dressing-gown with them, when they took George
off?’ wondered Julian. ‘There’s no doubt that she has been in that caravan -
she was taken straight there the night before last, I expect. Where is she
now?’
‘She
must have been dressed differently,’ said Dick. ‘They must have had to dress
her properly, when they took her somewhere else. After all, she was only in
pyjamas and dressing-gown.’
Jo
was listening to all this, puzzled and worried. She nudged Dick. ‘Spiky’s
beckoning to us,’ she said. They went over to the roundabout boy, whose father
was now in charge of the noisy machine.
Spiky
took them into his caravan, a small and rather dirty one, in which he lived
with his father.
‘I
saw Gringo’s old Ma chasing you!’ he said with his lop-sided grin. ‘What was
your dog dragging out of the van?’
They
told him. He nodded. ‘I’ve been asking round a bit, cautious-like,’ he said.
‘Just to see if anyone had heard anything from Gringo’s caravan - and the
fellow whose caravan is nearest told me he heard shouts and yells two nights
ago. He reckoned it was someone in Gringo’s van - but he’s too scared of Gringo
to go and interfere, of course.’
‘That
would be George yelling,’ said Dick.
‘Well,
then Gringo’s vans were moved the next day right away from the other vans,’
said Spiky. ‘And this afternoon, before the Fair opened, Gringo got his car and
towed the little van - the second one - out of the field, and set off with it.
We all wondered why, but he told somebody it needed repairing.’
‘Whew!
And George was inside!’ said Dick. ‘What a cunning way of moving her off to
another hiding-place.’
‘When
did the van come back?’ asked Julian.
‘Just
before you came,’ said Spiky. ‘I don’t know where it went. It was gone an hour,
I should think.’
‘An
hour,’ said Dick. ‘Well, suppose it goes at an average of 25 miles an hour -
you can’t go very fast if you are towing something - that would mean he had
gone somewhere about 12 miles or so away, and come back the same distance -
making about an hour’s drive, allowing for a stop when they arrived at the
place they had to leave her at.’
‘Yes,’
said Julian. ‘But there are lots of places within the radius of 12 miles!’
‘Where’s
Gringo’s car?’ said Dick suddenly.
‘Over
there, under that big tarpaulin,’ said Spiky. ‘It’s a silver-grey one -
American and very striking, He thinks the world of it, Gringo does.’
‘I’m
going to have a peep at it,’ said Julian, and strode off. He came to the
tarpaulin, which covered the car right to the ground. He lifted it and was just
about to look under it when a man ran up, shouting.
‘Here,
you! Leave that alone! You’ll be turned out of the Fair if you mess about with
things that don’t concern you!’
But
Timmy was with Julian, and he turned and growled so fiercely that the man
stopped in a hurry. Julian had plenty of time to take a good look under the
tarpaulin!
Yes
- the car was silver-grey, a big American one - and the wings were bright blue!
Julian took a quick look at the two left-hand ones and saw a deep scratch on
one of them. Before he dropped the tarpaulin he had time to glance at the
tyres. He was sure they had the same pattern as those shown in the wheel-tracks
he had sketched! He had checked the sketch with Jim, at Kirrin Garage, who had
told him they were an American design.
Yes
- this was the car that had hidden in the clearing the night before last - the
car that had turned with difficulty and made those deep ruts - the car that had
taken George away, and this afternoon had towed away the caravan with her
inside, to hide her somewhere else.
He
dropped the tarpaulin and walked back to the others, excited, taking no notice
of the rude things that the near-by man called out to him.
‘It’s
the car, all right,’ said Julian. ‘Now - WHERE did it go this afternoon? If
only we could find out!’
‘It’s
such a very striking car that anyone would notice it - especially as it was
towing a rather nice little caravan,’ said Dick.
‘Yes
- but we can’t go round the countryside asking everyone we meet if they’ve
noticed a silver-grey car with blue wings,’ said Julian.
‘Let’s
go back home and get a map and see the lie of the country round about,’ said
Dick. ‘Spiky, which way did the car turn when it went out of the field-gate?’
‘Towards
the east,’ said Spiky. ‘On the road to Big Twillingham.’
‘Well,
that’s something to know,’ said Dick. ‘Come on, let’s get our bikes. Thanks
most awfully, Spiky. You’ve been a terrific help.
The
three of them rode off, with Timmy running beside them again. As soon as they
got home they told Anne and Joan all they had found out. Joan was for ringing
up the police at once again, but Julian stopped her.
‘I
think perhaps we can do this next bit of work better than they can,’ he said.
‘We’re going to try and find out where the car went, Joan. Now - where are the
maps of the district?’
They
found them and began to pore over them. Jo was quite lost when it came to
map-reading. She could find her way anywhere, day or night - but not with a
map!
‘Now
- here’s the road to Big Twillingham and Little Twillingham,’ he said. ‘Let’s
list carefully all the roads the car could take from there. My word - it’s a
job!’
Chapter
Nineteen
AN
EXCITING PLAN
After
fifteen minutes they had six towns on their list, all of which could have been
reached in about half-an-hour from Big Twillingham, which was two miles away
from the Fair.
‘And
now what do you propose to do, Ju?’ asked Dick. ‘Bike over to all the towns and
ask if anyone has seen the car?’
‘No.
We can’t possibly do that,’ said Julian. ‘I’m going down to the garage to see
our friend Jim, and get his help! I’m going to ask him to ring up any friends
he has in the garages in those towns, and ask if they’ve seen the car passing
through.’
‘Won’t
he think it’s a bit funny?’ asked Anne.
‘Yes.
But he won’t mind how funny it is if we pay the telephone-calls and give him
fifty pence for his trouble!’ said Julian, folding up the map. ‘And what’s more
he won’t ask any questions either. He’ll probably think it’s some silly bet
we’ve got on with one another.’
Jim
was quite willing to ring up the garages for them. He knew boys working in main
garages in four of the towns, and he knew the hall-porter of a hotel in the
fifth town. But he knew no one in the sixth.
‘That
don’t matter!’ he said. ‘We’ll ring up the garage in the High Street there, and
just ask whoever comes to the phone.’
Jim
rang up the garage in Hillingford, and had a rather cheeky conversation with
his friend there. He put the receiver down. ‘No go,’ he said. ‘He says no car
like that came through Hillingford, or he’d have noticed it that time of day.
I’ll ring up Jake at Green’s Garage in Lowington now.’
‘That’s
no go, either,’ he said, after a minute’s telephone conversation. ‘I’ll try my
hall-porter now. He’s a cousin of mine.’
The
hall-porter had some news. ‘Yes!’ Jim kept saying. ‘Yes, that’s the one! Yes,
yes! You heard him say that, did you? Thanks most awfully.’
‘What
is it?’ asked Dick, eagerly, when Jim at last put down the receiver.
‘Pat
- that’s the hall porter - says he was off duty this afternoon, and went to buy
some cigarettes at a little shop in the main street of Graysfield, where his
hotel is - and as he stood talking to the fellow in the shop an enormous car
drew up at the kerb - silver-grey, with blue wings - an American car, left-hand
drive and all.’
‘Yes
- what next?’ said Julian, eagerly.
‘Well,
the driver got out to get some cigarettes at the shop. He had dark glasses on,
and a big gold ring on his finger - Pat noticed that...’
‘That
must be the man who asked about us at the tea-shop in Kirrin!’ said Julian,
remembering. ‘Go on, Jim - this is wonderful!’
‘Well,
Pat’s interested in big cars, so he went out and had a good look at it,’ said
Jim. ‘He said the car had its blinds drawn down at the back, so he couldn’t see
inside. The fellow with the dark glasses came out and got into the driver’s
seat again. He called out to whoever was behind and said “Which way now?” ’
‘Yes,
yes - did he hear the answer?’ said Julian.
‘Somebody
called back and said, “Not far now. Into Twining, turn to the left, and it’s
the house on the hill.” ’
‘Well!
Of all the luck!’ said Dick. ‘Would that be where G ...’ He stopped at a sharp
nudge from Julian, and remembered that he mustn’t give too much away to the
helpful Jim.
Julian
passed over fifty pence to the pleased garage boy, who pocketed it at once,
grinning. ‘Now, you just come along to me if you want to know about any more
cars,’ he said. ‘I’ll phone all over the place for you! Thanks a lot!’
They
sped back to Kirrin Cottage, too excited even to talk. They flung their
bicycles against the wall and ran in to tell Anne and Joan. Timmy and Sally
sensed their excitement and danced round, barking loudly.
‘We
know where George is!’ cried Dick. ‘We know, we know!’
Joan
and Anne listened eagerly. ‘Well, Master Julian,’ said Joan, in admiration, ‘it
was really smart of you to make Jim phone up like that. The police couldn’t
have done better. What are you going to do now? Ring up that sergeant?’
‘No,’
said Julian. ‘I’m so afraid that if the police get moving on this now, they’ll
alarm Gringo and he’ll spirit George away somewhere else. Dick and I will go to
this place tonight, and see if we can’t get hold of George and bring her back!
After all - it’s only an ordinary house, I imagine - and as Gringo doesn’t
suspect that anyone knows where George is, he won’t be on the look out!’
‘Good!’
said Dick. ‘Good, good, good!’
‘I’m
coming too,’ said Jo.
‘You
are not,’ said Julian, at once. ‘That’s flat - you are NOT COMING, Jo. But I
shall take Timmy, of course.’
Jo
said no more, but looked so sulky that Anne laughed. ‘Cheer up, Jo. You can
keep me and Sally company. Oh Julian - wouldn’t it be wonderful to find George
and rescue her!’
There
was more map-reading as the boys decided which was the best way to bicycle over
to Graysfield. ‘Look out the best torches we’ve got, Anne, will you?’ said
Dick. ‘And let me see - how can we bring George back once we’ve got her? On my
bike-step, I think, though I know it’s not allowed. But this is very urgent. We
can’t very well take a third bike with us. Gosh, isn’t this exciting!’
‘We
really ought to ring up the police,’ said Joan, who kept saying this at
intervals.
‘Joan,
you sound like a parrot!’ said Julian. ‘If we’re not back by morning you can
ring up all the police in the country if you want to!’
‘There’s
been another phone-call from your aunt today, Master Julian - I nearly forgot
to tell you,’ said Joan. ‘Your uncle is better and they are coming home as soon
as possible.’
‘Not
this evening, I hope,’ said Julian, in alarm. ‘Did they tell you anything about
Mr Elbur Wright - Berta’s father?’
‘Oh,
he’s hanging on to his secrets quite happily now that he knows it isn’t Berta
who is kidnapped,’ said Joan. ‘I don’t know if the kidnappers even know they’ve
got the wrong girl yet. It’s all very hush-hush. Even your uncle and aunt are
having to obey the police. Your poor aunt is so terribly upset about George.’
‘Yes.
She must be frightfully worried,’ said Julian, soberly. ‘We’ve had so much
excitement today that I’ve almost forgotten to worry. And anyway when you’re
able to do something, things don’t seem so bad.’
‘You
be careful you don’t go and do too much and land yourself in trouble,’ said
Joan, darkly.
‘I’ll
be careful!’ said Julian, winking at Dick. ‘I say - isn’t it nearly supper-time?
I feel awfully hungry.’
‘Well,
we haven’t had any tea,’ said Dick. ‘How extraordinary to have forgotten about
tea. No wonder we’re hungry.’
‘Would
you like bacon and eggs for a treat?’ said Joan, and there was a chorus of
approval at once. Timmy and Sally wagged their tails as if Joan’s question
applied to them too!
‘We’ll
set off as soon as it’s dark,’ said Julian. ‘Jo, you’d better go home after
supper. They’ll be worrying about you.’
‘All
right,’ said Jo, pleased to have been asked to supper, but still sulky at being
forbidden to go with Julian and Dick that night.
Jo
disappeared after supper, with many messages to Berta from Dick, Julian, Anne
and Sally.
 ‘Now, let’s have a
game before we set off, Julian. Just to take our minds off the excitement. I’m
getting all worked-up!’
Joan
went up to bed at ten because she was tired.  ‘You will be careful,’ she kept saying. ‘You will be careful, won’t you?
Oh dear, I think it’s almost worse to stay behind and wonder what’s happening
to you, than to go with you and find out!’
At
last the time came for the boys to go. It was a quarter to twelve and, except
for a small moon, was a dark night, with great clouds looming up, often hiding
the moon.
‘Come
on, Timmy,’ said Dick. ‘We’re going to find George.’
‘Woof!’
said Timmy, delighted. Sally wuffed too, and was most disappointed at being
left behind. The boys wheeled their bicycles to the front gate.
‘So
long, Anne!’ said Dick. ‘Go to bed - and hope to see George when you wake up!’
They
set off on their bicycles, with Timmy loping along beside them. They soon
arrived at the field where the Fair was, and went swinging away to the east,
following the road the silver-grey car had gone that afternoon.
They
knew the way by heart, for they had studied the map so well. As they passed the
signposts they felt their excitement beginning to mount. ‘Graysfield next,’
said Dick at last. ‘Soon be there, Timmy! You’re not getting tired, are you?’
They
came into Graysfield silently. The town was asleep, and not a single light
showed in any window. A policeman suddenly loomed up out of the shadows, but
when he saw two boys cycling, he did not stop them.
‘Now
- into Twining Village, turn to the left - and look for the house on the hill!’
said Dick.
They
rode through the tiny, silent village of Twining, and took the lane to the
left. It led up a steep, narrow lane. The boys had to get off and walk because
the hill was too much for them.
‘There’s
the house!’ said Julian, suddenly whispering. ‘Look - through those trees. My
word, it looks a dark and lonely one!’
They
came to some enormous iron gates, but when they tried to open them, they found
them locked. A great wall ran completely round the grounds. They followed it a
little way, leaving their bicycles against a tree by the gate, but it was soon
certain that nobody could climb a wall like that!
‘Blow!’
said Julian. ‘Blow!’
‘What
about the gates?’ whispered Dick. Then he glanced round him nervously, hearing
a twig crack. ‘Did you hear that? There’s nobody following us, is there?’
‘No!
Don’t get the jitters, for goodness’ sake!’ said Julian. ‘What was it you were
saying?’
‘I
said “What about the gates?” ’ said Dick. ‘I don’t see why we can’t climb over
them, do you? Nobody would do that in the daytime, they’d be seen - but I can’t
see why we can’t do it now - they didn’t look too dificult - just ordinary
wrought-iron ones.’
‘Yes!
Of course!’ said Julian. ‘That’s a brain-wave. Come on!’
Chapter
Twenty
A
THRILLING TIME
The
two boys went back to the gates. Dick turned round and looked behind him two or
three times. ‘I do hope nobody is shadowing us!’ he said. ‘I keep on feeling
somebody’s watching us all the time.’
‘Oh,
stuff!’ said Julian, impatiently. ‘Look - here are the gates. Give me a leg-up
and I’ll be over in a jiffy.’
Dick
gave him a shove, and Julian climbed over the gates without much difficulty.
They were bolted, not locked. He slid the great bolts carefully, and opened one
gate a little for Dick and Timmy. ‘Timmy can’t be left behind!’ he said. ‘And
he certainly couldn’t climb this gate!’
They
kept to the shadowed side of the drive as they walked up towards the house. The
small moon came out from behind a cloud as they came near.
Dick
glanced behind him suddenly and Julian saw him. ‘Got the jitters again?’ he
said, impatiently.  You know perfectly well that if
anyone was shadowing us, Timmy would hear them and go for them at once.’
‘Yes,
I know,’ said Dick.
They
came right up to the house. ‘How shall we get in?’ whispered Julian. ‘The doors
are all sure to be locked. We’ll have to try the windows.’
They
tiptoed silently round the big house. As Julian had said, the doors were all
locked. The windows were all fastened too - well and truly fastened. Not one
was open or could be opened.
‘If
this is a house belonging to Gringo he must be able to hide plenty of things in
absolute safety - bolted gates, high walls, locked doors, fastened windows!’
said Dick. ‘No burglar could possibly get in.’
‘And
neither can we,’ said Julian, desperately. ‘We’ve been all round the house
three times now! There’s no door, no window we can get in. No balcony to climb
up to - no ivy to hang on to - nothing!’
‘Let’s
go round once more,’ said Dick. ‘We might have missed something.’
So
once more they went round - and discovered something curious when they got to
the kitchen quarters. The moon came out, and showed them a round black hole in
the ground! Whatever could it be?
They
tiptoed to it just as the moon went in again. They shone their torches on it
briefly.
‘It’s
a coal-hole!’ said Dick, astonished. ‘Why didn’t we see it before? Look,
there’s the lid just beside it. It’s been left open. I suppose the moon was in
last time we came by this part of the house. I can’t think how we didn’t notice
it.’
Julian
was uneasy. ‘I didn’t see it before, certainly. It’s queer. Could it be a trap,
do you think?’
‘I
don’t see how it could be,’ said Dick. ‘Come on - let’s get down. At least it’s
a way in.’ He shone his torch into the hole. ‘Yes, look - there’s a whole lot
of coke down there - we can easily jump on to it.
Timmy
jumped down at once, the coke slithering away from beneath his four paws. ‘He’s
down all right,’ said Julian. ‘I’ll go next.’
Down
he jumped, and the coke slithered away again, making what seemed to be a very
loud noise in the silent night. Julian shone his torch around.
 At
the end was a door.
‘Hope
it’s not locked,’ said Dick, in a whisper. ‘Now, Tim, keep to heel, for
goodness’ sake, and don’t make a sound!’
They
went to the door, treading on gritty bits of coke.  ‘It’s not locked!’ said Julian,
thankfully.
They
crept through it, Timmy treading on their heels, and found themselves in
another cellar, set with stone shelves on which were piled tins and boxes and
crates. ‘Enough food here to stand a siege!’ whispered Dick. ‘Where are the
cellar-steps? We’ve got to get out.’
‘Over
there,’ said Julian. Then he stopped and put out his torch. He had heard
something.
‘Did
you hear that?’ he whispered. ‘It sounded like somebody treading on the coke in
the coal-cellar! Gosh, I hope nobody is shadowing us. We’ll soon be prisoners
if so.’
They
listened but heard nothing further. Up the stone steps they went and undid the
door at the top. A big kitchen lay beyond, lighted by the dim moon.  Dick’s heart almost stopped
beating. What in the world was that, crawling silently over the floor and
disappearing in the shadows? He clutched at Julian and made him jump.
‘Don’t
do that, ass! That was only the kitchen cat you saw,’ whispered Julian. ‘Gosh,
you made me jump. Wasn’t it a good thing that Timmy didn’t go for the cat?
There would have been an awful yowling!’
‘Where
do you suppose George will be?’ asked Dick. ‘Somewhere at the top of the
house?’
‘I’ve
no idea. We’ll just have to look into every room,’ said Julian. So they looked
into every room on the ground floor, but they were empty.
‘Come
on - up the stairs!’ said Dick, and up they went. They came to an enormous
landing, hung with tapestry curtains at the windows. Timmy suddenly gave a
small growl and in a trice both boys had hidden themselves in the folds of the
long window-curtains. Timmy went with them, feeling surprised. Dick peeped out
after a minute.
‘I
think it was that cat again,’ he whispered. 'Look, there it is, up on that
chest. It’s following us, wondering what on earth we’re doing, I expect!’
‘Blow
it!’ said Julian. ‘I’m getting the jitters now, being watched by a shadowy cat.
I suppose it is real?’
‘Timmy
thinks so!’ said Dick. ‘Come on - there are any amount of bedroom doors on this
landing.’
They
tiptoed into the ones whose doors were open, but no one was sleeping in the
beds there. They came to a closed door and listened. Someone was snoring
inside!
‘That’s
not George,’ said Dick. ‘Anyway, she’d be locked in, and the key is in this
door.’
They
went to the next door, which was also shut. They listened and could hear
someone breathing heavily.
‘Not
George,’ said Dick, and they went on up to the next flight of stairs. There
were four more rooms there, two of them not even furnished. The doors of the
other two were ajar, and it was clear that people were sleeping in them,
because once more there was loud breathing to be heard.
‘There
don’t seem to be any more rooms,’ said Dick, in dismay, as they flashed their
torches carefully round the top landing. ‘Blow! Where’s George then?’
‘Look
- there’s a little wooden door there,’ said Julian, in Dick’s ear. ‘A door
leading into the cistern room, I should think.’
‘She
wouldn’t be there,’ said Dick. ‘But wait - look, there’s a strong bolt on the
door! And cistern rooms don’t have bolts on their doors, or even locks. This
one hasn’t a lock, but it has a bolt.’
‘Sh!
Not so loud!’ said Julian. ‘Yes, that’s funny, I must say. How can we get the
door open without waking the people in those other two rooms?’
‘We’ll
shut their doors very quietly, and we’ll lock them!’ said Dick, excited. ‘I’ll
go and do it.’
He
drew the doors gently to, and then locked first one and then the other, having
taken the keys from the other side of the doors to do so. Except that one made
a slight click as he locked it, there was no noise. Nobody stirred in the two
rooms, and the boys breathed freely again.
They
went to the little wooden door opposite. They pulled gently at the bolt, afraid
that it might squeak. But it didn’t. It was obviously quite new, and ran
easily. The door opened outwards with a small creak. There was pitch darkness
inside, and the sound of trickling water from the cistern.
 In that second he saw something that made
his heart jump!
There
was a small mattress on the floor of the little cistern room, and someone was
lying on it, rolled so completely in blankets that even the head was covered!
Julian had seen it too, and he put his arm on Dick’s, afraid that it might not
be George, afraid that it might be someone who would give the alarm, perhaps
another prisoner.
But
Timmy knew who it was! Timmy ran straight in with a small, loving whimper and
flung himself on the sleeping figure!
 Timmy
might bark with joy in a moment, or George might shout!
The
figure gave a grunt and sat up. The blanket fell away from the head - and there
was George’s curly nob, and her startled face.
‘Sh!’
said Dick, raising his finger warningly. ‘SH!’ Timmy was licking George from
head to foot, wild with delight, but extraordinarily silent - clever old Timmy
knew that this was one of the times when joy must be dumb!
‘Oh!’
said George, hugging Timmy anywhere she could. ‘Oh, Timmy! I missed you so!
Darling, darling, Tim! Oh Timmy!’
Dick
stood by the closed door, listening to find out if anyone was stirring in the
other rooms. He heard nothing at all. Julian went to George.
‘Are
you all right, George?’ he asked. ‘Have you been treated well?’
‘Not
very,’ said George. ‘But then I didn’t behave very well! I did quite a lot of
kicking and biting - so they locked me in here!’
‘Poor
old George!’ said Julian. ‘Well, we’ll hear everything when we’ve got out of
here. So far, we’ve been jolly lucky. Can you come now?’
‘Yes,’
said George and got off the mattress. She was dressed in an odd selection of
clothes, and looked rather peculiar. ‘That awful old woman - Gringo’s mother -
found these for me when I was taken to the caravan,’ she said. ‘Gosh, I’ve got
a lot to tell you!’
‘Sh!’
said Dick, at the door. ‘Not a sound, now! I’m going to open the door!’
He
opened it slowly. All was quiet. ‘Now we’ll go down the stairs,’ he said. ‘Not
a sound!’
They
went down the first flight of stairs and on to the enormous landing. Then, just
as Dick put his foot on to the next stair down, he trod on something soft that
yowled, spat and scratched. It was that cat!
Dick
fell half-way down the stairs, and Timmy could not stop himself from chasing
the cat up the landing and up the top stairs to the cistern room. Nor could he
stop himself from barking!
Shouts
came from two of the near-by bedrooms and two men appeared in pyjamas. One
switched on the landing light, and then both of them tore down the stairs after
the three children. Dick picked himself up, but he had ricked his ankle and
could not even walk!
‘Run,
George - I’ll see to Dick!’ yelled Julian. Rut George stopped too - and in a
trice the two men were on to them, catching hold of Dick and Julian, and
jerking them into a near-by room.
‘Tim!
TIM!’ shouted George. ‘Help, Timmy!’
But
before Timmy could come pelting down the stairs from the attic George was shoved
into the room too, and the door locked.
‘Look
out for the dog!’ shouted one of the men. ‘He’s dangerous!’
Timmy
certainly was! He came tearing towards the men, snarling, his eyes blazing,
showing all his teeth.
The
men darted into the room next to the one into which they had locked the
children, and banged the door. Timmy flung himself against it in rage, snarling
and growling in a most terrifying manner. If only he could get at those men! If
only he could!
Chapter
Twenty-one
MOST
UNEXPECTED!
Soon
there was real pandemonium in the old house! The sleepers in the rooms on the
top landing awoke suddenly and found their doors locked, and began to bang on
them and shout. The three children in the locked room on the ground floor
shouted and banged too - and Timmy nearly went mad!
Only
the men in the room next to the children were silent. They were terrified at
Timmy’s growling and snarling. They would have liked to lock themselves in, but
the key was on the other side of the door - and they certainly didn’t dare to
open it to get the key!
Soon
the children quietened down.  ‘That cat! That
wretched, prowling, sly old cat! Gosh, I stepped on it and it scratched me to
the bone - to say nothing of pitching me headlong down the stairs and making me
wrench my ankle!’
‘We
so nearly managed to escape!’ groaned Julian.
‘I
can’t think what will happen now!’ said George. ‘Timmy’s out there and can’t
get in to us, and we can’t possibly get out to him because the door’s locked - and
those men won’t dare to set a foot outside their door while Tim’s there!’
‘And
we’ve locked the people into their rooms upstairs!’ said Julian.
It
certainly did seem a very poor look-out! The only people who were not behind
locked doors were the two men, whoever they were - and they simply dared not
put a foot outside their room. Timmy roamed about, occasionally whimpering and
scratching outside the children’s door, but more often growling outside the
next door, sometimes flinging his heavy body against it as if he would break it
down.
‘I
bet the men are shaking with fright,’ said Dick. ‘They won’t even dare to try
and get out of a window in case they meet Timmy outside somewhere!’
‘Serve
them right,’ said George.   The men were waiting for a chance
to get Berta, of course, and they saw you, complete with Berta’s dog, and
thought you were the girl they wanted!’
‘Yes.
They flung something all over my head so that I couldn’t make a sound,’ said
George. ‘I fought like anything, and my dressing-gown girdle must have slipped
off - did you find it?’
‘Yes,’
said Dick. ‘We were jolly glad to find a few other things too - the comb - the
hanky - the sweet - and of course the note!’
‘They
carried me quite a way to somewhere in the wood,’ said George. ‘Then they
plonked me down at the back of the car. But they had to turn it and it was
difficult - and I had the bright thought of throwing out all the things in my
dressing-gown pocket just in case you came along and saw them.’
‘What
about that note - with the word Gringo on?’ asked Julian. ‘That was a terrific
help. We wouldn’t be here tonight if it hadn’t been for that.’
‘Well,
I heard one of the men call the other Gringo,’ said George. ‘And it was such an
unusual name I thought I’d scribble it on a bit of paper and throw that out too
- it was just on chance I did it.’
‘A
jolly good chance!’ said Dick. ‘Good thing you had a notebook and pencil with
you!’
‘I
hadn’t,’ said George. ‘But one of the men had left his coat in the back of the
car and there was a notebook with a pencil in the breast-pocket. I just used
that!’
‘Jolly
good!’ said Julian.
‘Well,
they whizzed me off in the car to some Fairground or other,’ said George. ‘I
heard the roundabout music next day. There was a horrid old witch-like woman in
the caravan; she didn’t seem at all pleased to see me. I had to sleep in a
chair that night, and I got so wild that I yelled and shouted and threw things
about and smashed quite a lot of cups and saucers. I enjoyed that.’
The
boys couldn’t help laughing. ‘Yes - I bet you did,’ said Dick. ‘They had to
move the caravan away from the Fair itself, because they were afraid people
would hear you. In fact, I expect that’s why Gringo decided to hide you here!’
‘Yes.
I suddenly felt a jolt, and found the caravan we were in was being towed away!’
said George. ‘I was awfully surprised. I waved at the windows and shouted as we
drove through the streets, but nobody seemed to notice anything wrong - in fact
some people waved back to me! Then we swung in through some gates, and came
here - and, as I told you, they put me up here because I made such a nuisance
of myself!’
‘Did
you tell them you weren’t Berta?’ asked Dick.
‘No,’
said George. ‘Of course not. For two reasons - I knew there would be no fear of
Berta’s father giving those secrets away, because he’d be told by you that I
had been kidnapped, not his precious Berta. So he’d hang on to them. And also I
thought Berta would be safe, so long as I didn’t tell the men they’d got the
wrong person.’
‘You’re
a good kid, George,’ said Julian, and slapped her gently on the back. ‘A - very
- good - kid. I’m jolly proud of you. There’s nobody like our George!’
‘Don’t
be a fathead,’ said George, but she was very pleased all the same.
‘Well,
there’s no more to tell,’ she said, ‘except that the cistern room was most
frightfully draughty, and I had to wrap my head up as well as my body when I
lay down. And the cistern made awful noises - sort of rude noises, that made me
want to say “I beg your pardon!” all the time! Of course I knew you’d rescue
me, so I wasn’t awfully worried!’
‘And
we haven’t rescued you!’ said Julian. ‘All we’ve done is to get ourselves
locked up as well as you!’
‘Tell
me how you found out I was here,’ said George. So the boys told her everything
and she listened, thrilled.
‘So
Berta went to stay with Jo!’ she said. ‘I bet Jo didn’t like that.
‘She
didn’t,’ said Julian. ‘But she’s been quite a help. I only wish she was here
now, and could do one of her ivy-climbing stunts, or something!’
‘I
say - Timmy’s very quiet all of a sudden!’ said George, listening. ‘What’s
happened?’
They
listened. Timmy was not barking or whimpering. There was no sound of him at
all. What was happening? George’s heart sank - perhaps those men had managed to
do something to him?
But
suddenly they heard him again, whimpering - but whimpering gladly and
excitedly. And then a familiar voice came to their ears.
‘Dick!
Julian! Where are you?’
‘Gosh
- it’s JO!’ said Dick, astounded. He limped to the door. ‘We’re in here, Jo.
Unlock the door!’
Jo
unlocked it and looked in, grinning. Timmy tore in like a whirlwind and flung
himself on George, almost knocking her over. Dick limped out of the room
immediately. Jo rushed in, much to everyone’s astonishment. Then he returned,
looking rather pleased with himself.
‘Let’s
go while the going’s good,’ he said.
‘Yes
- but be careful, those men will be out, now that Timmy isn’t there to guard
them!’ cried Julian, suddenly realising that the two angry fellows could easily
escape while Timmy was in with them - and might lock the door on the lot of
them, Timmy too!
‘It’s
all right - there’s no desperate hurry!’ said Dick. ‘I thought of that. I
slipped out and locked their door on them, as soon as Jo rushed in to us. And
there they can stay till the police arrive in the morning. They can then
collect the whole lot - the men upstairs too.’
‘And
I’m sure the police will be quite pleased to search the house and the cellars,’
said Julian. ‘There will be plenty of stuff here that they will be interested
in! Well, let’s go at once.’
They
called a cheery good-bye to the two men. ‘We’re off!’ shouted Dick. ‘You’d
better look out for the dog in case he gets you!’ They all went down the hall,
Dick hobbling, for his ankle was still painful.
‘We
might as well leave in style,’ said Julian, and unbolted and unlocked the front
door. ‘Also it would be as well to leave this door open for the police to come
in by - I don’t expect they will want to come in through the coal-hole! It was
a good idea of yours to let the men think we were leaving Tim behind to guard
them, Dick - they won’t dare even to climb out of the windows in case he’s
waiting for them!’
‘We’ve
left a good many lights on,’ said George, looking back. ‘Never mind - we’re not
paying the bill! Come on, Timmy, out into the dark, dark night!’
They
went down the front steps and into the dark drive. Everyone felt safe with
Timmy running ahead.
‘Jo
- exactly how did you get here?’ said Dick, suddenly. ‘You were forbidden to
come.’
‘I
know,’ said Jo. ‘Well, I just took Anne’s bike and followed you, that’s all.
And I walked in through the front gates when you’d left them open, of course.
That was easy.’
‘Gosh
- I kept feeling there was someone behind me!’ said Dick.  No wonder Timmy didn’t bother to bark or growl.’
‘Yes,
it was me,’ said Jo. ‘And I followed you round and round the house, while you
were trying to get in - and I thought you never would see that coal-hole - so I
took the lid off and put it on the ground, hoping you’d see it then. And you
did!’
‘So
you did that!’ said Dick. ‘I must say I was astonished to see it. I knew we
must have passed it before. So that was you too!
Jo
laughed. ‘I couldn’t bear you to go off without me,’ she said. ‘It’s a good
thing I did come! I waited and waited inside that coal-hole for you to come
back with George - and when you didn’t, I left the coalhole and got into the
house. And Timmy heard me and came running down the stairs. He nearly knocked
me over, he was that pleased!’
‘Here
are the gates at last,’ said George. ‘What are we going to do about bikes?
There isn’t one for me.’
‘Jo
can stand behind on my step and hold on to my shoulder,’ said Julian. ‘You take
Anne’s bike, George. We’ll leave these gates open. The police ought to be
pleased with us for saving them so much trouble!’
Off
they went down the steep hill, Timmy running behind, his tail wagging happily.
He had got George back again. All was well again in his doggy world!
Chapter
Twenty-two
‘THESE
KIDS SURE ARE WUNNERFUL!’
What
shrieks and shouts there were from Joan and Anne when the four arrived at
Kirrin Cottage at last, at half past three in the morning! Joan was awake, but
Anne had just gone to sleep. She was sleeping in Joan’s room for company and
Sally was there too.
The
stories had to be told again and again. First Dick, then Julian, then George,
then Jo - they all talked without stopping, excited and happy. Sally ran from
one to the other, and followed Timmy about - but sometimes her little stiff
tail drooped when she remembered that Berta was not there.
‘I
say,’ said Dick, suddenly drawing back the sitting-room curtains - it’s
daylight! The sun’s up! And all the time I’ve been thinking it was still
night!’
‘No
use going to bed, then,’ said Jo, at once. She was so much enjoying this that
she felt as if she never wanted it to stop!
‘Well,
I suppose it isn’t,’ said Joan.  We’re tired out really - just look at our
black-rimmed eyes and pale cheeks!’
‘Joan!
We’re all as sunburnt as can be, you’re just making that up!’ said George.
‘Come on - let’s get this celebration breakfast going! Bacon - eggs - tomatoes
- fried bread. Oh, and mushrooms too - have you any mushrooms, Joan? And lots
and lots of hot coffee, and toast and marmalade. I’m ravenous.’
They
discovered that they all were, and twenty minutes later they sat at the table
tucking in as if they had eaten nothing for a month.
‘I
can’t eat a thing more,’ said Dick, ‘and I don’t know what’s happening to my
eyes - they keep closing!’
‘So
do mine,’ said George, with an enormous yawn. ‘Joan - don’t say we’ve got to do
the washing-up, will you?’
‘Of
course not!’ said Joan. ‘Go on up to your beds now - don’t even bother to
undress.’
‘I
feel as if there’s something I ought to do - but I can’t remember it,’ said
Julian, sleepily, staggering upstairs. ‘I - just - can’t remember!’
He
flopped on his bed and was asleep as soon as his head fell on the pillow. In
two minutes everyone but Joan was asleep too. Joan stopped to give Timmy a
drink, and then he bounded up to George and curled up in the crook of her knees
as usual.
Joan
went to lie down too, thinking she would just have a rest, but not go to sleep.
But in half a second she slept too.
The
sun rose higher in the sky. The milkman came whistling up the path and left
four bottles of milk on the step. The gulls in the bay circled and soared and
called loudly. But nobody stirred in Kirrin Cottage.
A
car came up to the front gate, and another one followed. Out of the first
stepped Uncle Quentin, Aunt Fanny, Mr Elbur Wright - and Berta! Out of the
second car stepped the sergeant and his constable.
Berta
flew to the front door, but it was shut. She raced round to the garden door.
That was locked too - and so was the kitchen door!
‘Pops!
We’ll have to ring - all the doors are locked!’ she called. And then, from up
above came a sound of excited barking, and Sally’s head appeared at a bedroom
window. When she saw it really was Berta down below, she tore down the stairs
and scraped at the front door.
‘What’s
happened? Where is everyone?’ said Aunt Fanny in amazement. ‘All the doors
locked? But it’s ten o’clock in the morning. Where are the children?’
‘I’ve
got my key,’ said Uncle Quentin, and he put it into the front door lock. He
opened the door and Sally leapt straight into Berta’s arms, licking her face
from forehead to chin!
Aunt
Fanny went into the hall and called, ‘Anyone at home?’
No
answer. Timmy heard her call, but as George did not stir, he didn’t either. He
was not going to leave George for a minute, not even to go downstairs!
Aunt
Fanny walked into all the rooms on the ground floor. Nobody there! She
marvelled at the remains of the meal spread all over the dining-room table, and
even more at the dirty pans and dishes in the kitchen. What was Joan thinking
of? WHERE was everybody? She did not expect George to be there, because she
knew George had been kidnapped - but where in the world were all the others?
She
went upstairs and her husband followed with Berta and her father. They were all
feeling most astonished now. They went into Julian’s room - good gracious he
was there, then!  Aunt Fanny couldn’t understand it.
And
then she went into the girls’ room - and there was Anne fast asleep too - and
GOOD GRACIOUS, could that be George? But surely George was kidnapped - then how
- why - where...
Her
mother suddenly put her arms round the sleeping George and kissed her and
hugged her. She had worried so much about her - and now here she was, safe and
sound after all!
George
awoke at once. She sat up and gazed at her mother and father in astonishment.
‘Oh
- you’re back! Oh, how lovely! When did you come?’
‘Just
now,’ said her mother. ‘But George - why is everyone asleep - and how did you
get here - we thought you were...’
‘Oh,
Mother - yes, of course you don’t know half the story, do you?’ said George.
‘Gosh, there’s Berta here too - and your Pops, Berta! Hallo, everyone.’
She
was still so sleepy that she was not quite sure whether this was a dream or
not. But then Anne woke up and squealed, and that woke Julian and Dick. They
came into the very crowded bedroom, and soon there was such a noise that Joan
and Jo, in the room above, awoke too.
Down
they came, looking very dishevelled, Joan full of apologies. She rushed
downstairs to put some coffee on and bumped into the two policemen in the hall.
She screamed.
‘Excuse
me, Miss,’ said the sergeant to Joan. ‘Isn’t anyone ever coming down again?
We’re supposed to be guarding Miss Berta.’
‘Oh
my - you don’t need to do that now!’ said Joan. ‘Didn’t Master Julian telephone
you last night - this morning, I mean - I thought he was going to.’
‘What
about?’ said the sergeant.
‘About
the kidnappers. Everything’s all right,’ explained Joan to the two astonished
policemen. ‘We’ve got Miss George back - and oh, bless us all, there’s those
kidnappers - you haven’t been told they’re all locked up and waiting for you,
have you?’
‘Look
here, Miss, what are you talking about?’ said the sergeant bewildered. ‘This is
too bad - what do you mean - kidnappers locked up and waiting!’
‘Master
Julian!’ called Joan, ‘the police are here - and you forgot to telephone and
tell them what happened last night. They’d better go to that house and get the
men, hadn’t they?’
‘I
knew there was something I’d forgotten,’ said Julian, running down the stairs.
‘I did mean to telephone, but I was so tired that I forgot.’
Everyone
then came downstairs and went into the sitting-room. Jo was shy with so many
people there, and wouldn’t sit anywhere near the two policemen.
‘I’ve
just been told, Mr Wright, sir, that there’s no need to guard your daughter
now,’ said the sergeant, rather stiffly. ‘Seems as if the police are the last
to hear about anything!’
‘Well,
the fact of the matter is that we found out that Gringo, who owns the Fair
called Gringo’s Fair, was paid to kidnap Berta,’ said Julian. ‘He kidnapped
George instead, by mistake. We found out where Gringo had taken her and went to
rescue her last night. You go on, Dick.’
‘And
we left Gringo and somebody else locked up in a room on the ground floor, and
two other people locked up in a top-floor room - and we’ve left the front door
open for you and the drive gates open too,’ said Dick. ‘So don’t be too annoyed
about it, Sergeant, because we really have tried to make things easy for you!
We’ve rescued George, as you see - and now you can get the men.’
The
sergeant looked as if he found it difficult to believe a single word! Uncle
Quentin tapped him sharply on the shoulder.
‘Well,
look alive, man - they’ll escape before you can get them if you don’t hurry.’
‘What’s
the address?’ said the sergeant, stolidly.
‘I
don’t know the name of the house, or the lane it’s in,’ said Julian. ‘But you
go through the village of Twining, turn to the left, and it’s the house up on
the hill.’
‘How
did you find out all this?’ said the sergeant.
‘It’s
too long to tell you now!’ said Dick. ‘We’ll write it all down in a book, and
send you a copy. We’ll call it - er - we’ll call it - what shall we call it,
you others? It’s a peculiar adventure really - it ended with everyone fast
asleep in bed!’
‘I
want some coffee,’ announced Uncle Quentin. ‘I
think we’ve talked enough. Do go and catch your kidnappers, my good men.’
The
policemen disappeared. Mr Elbur Wright beamed round happily, Berta on his knee.
‘Well,
this is a very happy ending!’ he said. ‘And I can take my little Berta back
with me after all!’
‘Oh
no!’ wailed Berta, much to her father’s surprise.
‘What
do you mean?’ he asked.
‘Gee,
Pops, be a honey and let me stay on here,’ begged Berta. ‘These kids sure are
wunnerful.’
‘WonDERful,
wonDERful, wonDERful!’ chanted the others.
‘Of
course let her stay on if she’d like to,’ said Aunt Fanny. ‘But as a girl this
time, not a boy!’
George
heaved a sigh of relief. That was all right then.
‘Woof!’
said Timmy suddenly, and made everyone jump.
‘He
says he’s jolly pleased you’re staying, Berta, because now Sally-dog will have
to stay too,’ said Dick. ‘So he’ll have someone to play with as well!’
‘Shall
we really send the sergeant a book about this adventure?’ said Anne. ‘Did you
really mean it, Dick?’
‘Rather!’
said Dick. ‘Our fourteenth adventure - and may we have many more! What shall we
call the book?’
‘I
know!’ said George, at once. ‘I know! Let’s call it “FIVE HAVE PLENTY OF FUN”.’
Well,
they did - and they hope you like it!


The nearest airport is at Hyderabad, 150 kms away from Hanmakonda.
🔗
Click here to know more
The nearest airport is at Hyderabad, 150 kms away from Hanmakonda.
🔗
Click here to know more
The nearest railway Station is Warangal railway station at a distance of 5.9 km.
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Just 2 km from Hanamkonda Bus station.
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HTTP request object
| url | (character) A url. One of |
|---|---|
| opts | (list) curl options, a named list. See
|
| proxies | an object of class |
| headers | (list) a named list of headers |
| handle | A handle, see |
This R6 class doesn't do actual HTTP requests as does
HttpClient()
- it is for building requests to use for async HTTP
requests in AsyncVaried()
Note that you can access HTTP verbs after creating an HttpRequest
object, just as you can with HttpClient
. See examples for usage.
Also note that when you call HTTP verbs on a HttpRequest
object you
don't need to assign the new object to a variable as the new details
you've added are added to the object itself.
Methods
get(path, query, disk, stream, ...)
Define a GET request
post(path, query, body, disk, stream, ...)
Define a POST request
put(path, query, body, disk, stream, ...)
Define a PUT request
patch(path, query, body, disk, stream, ...)
Define a PATCH request
delete(path, query, body, disk, stream, ...)
Define a DELETE request
head(path, disk, stream, ...)
Define a HEAD request
method()
Get the HTTP method (if defined) - returns character string
See HttpClient()
for information on parameters.
post-requests, delete-requests, http-headers, writing-options
x <- HttpRequest$new(url = "https://httpbin.org/get") ## note here how the HTTP method is shown on the first line to the right x$get()#> <crul http request> get #> url: https://httpbin.org/get #> curl options: #> proxies: #> auth: #> headers:## assign to a new object to keep the output z <- x$get() ### get the HTTP method z$method()#> [1] "get"(x <- HttpRequest$new(url = "https://httpbin.org/get")$get())#> <crul http request> get #> url: https://httpbin.org/get #> curl options: #> proxies: #> auth: #> headers:x$url#> [1] "https://httpbin.org/get"x$payload#> $url #> $url$url #> [1] "https://httpbin.org/get" #> #> $url$handle #> <curl handle> (https://httpbin.org/get) #> #> #> $method #> [1] "get" #> #> $options #> $options$httpget #> [1] TRUE #> #> $options$useragent #> [1] "libcurl/7.51.0 r-curl/2.6 crul/<IP_ADDRESS>10" #> #> #> $headers #> $headers$`User-Agent` #> [1] "libcurl/7.51.0 r-curl/2.6 crul/<IP_ADDRESS>10" #> #> $headers$`Accept-Encoding` #> [1] "gzip, deflate" #> #>(x <- HttpRequest$new(url = "https://httpbin.org/post"))#> <crul http request> #> url: https://httpbin.org/post #> curl options: #> proxies: #> auth: #> headers:x$post(body = list(foo = "bar"))#> <crul http request> post #> url: https://httpbin.org/post #> curl options: #> proxies: #> auth: #> headers:HttpRequest$new( url = "https://httpbin.org/get", headers = list( `Content-Type` = "application/json" ) )#> <crul http request> #> url: https://httpbin.org/get #> curl options: #> proxies: #> auth: #> headers: #> Content-Type: application/json


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Nov 30, 2011 . The hospital is part of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), named top hospital . A&E onsite · Maternity services . Link to gov .uk The new place to find government services and information .
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to women of child bearing age, new or expectant mothers which arise from work . is a brief summary of the maternity provisions available to all staff at UCL. . and birth defects among some groups of visual display unit (VDU) workers, .
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--- layout: post title: Salzburg At Night date: 2009-12-24 23:52:17.000000000 +05:30 categories: - kiranoncemore - S3 IS tags: - cityscapes - Europe09 - Night - Salzburg status: publish type: post published: true meta: _edit_last: '2' author: login: kiranoncemore email<EMAIL_ADDRESS>display_name: kiranoncemore first_name: Kiran last_name: '' ---
Av:F/2.7; Tv:1/4s; f:6mm(35mm-equiv: 38mm)
I shot this snap just past dusk when I was strolling along the Salzch river in Salzburg. The scenery was too good to miss - the shops along the riverfront, the reflection of lights in the river, the not-so-dark sky.
I liked the coverage and framing of this photograph - right from the castle overlooking the city, down to the bridges crossing the river - it's all well-positioned.
What I do not like about this particular shot is the absence of sharpness. A quarter second shutter speed was a mistake - I should have gone for at least a tenth of a second and used ISO 200. I don't think the ISO noise would be pronounced in this photo because of the reflections in the water (which would have hidden the noise).


Enable users to evaluate long-term trends using a Generalized Additive Modeling (GAM) approach. The model development includes selecting a GAM structure to describe nonlinear seasonally-varying changes over time, incorporation of hydrologic variability via either a river flow or salinity, the use of an intervention to deal with method or laboratory changes suspected to impact data values, and representation of left- and interval-censored data. The approach has been applied to water quality data in the Chesapeake Bay, a major estuary on the east coast of the United States to provide insights to a range of management- and research-focused questions.
| Version: | 1.0.7 |
| Depends: | R (≥ 3.2.0), lubridate, mgcv |
| Imports: | XML, dataRetrieval, digest, gdata, memoise, methods, plyr, survival, zCompositions |
| Suggests: | devtools, fitdistrplus, imputeTS, knitr, nlme, pander, readxl, rmarkdown, testthat |
| Published: | 2018-07-19 |
| Author: | Rebecca Murphy, Elgin Perry, Jennifer Keisman, Jon Harcum, Erik W Leppo |
| Maintainer: | Erik Leppo <Erik.Leppo at tetratech.com> |
| License: | GPL-3 |
| URL: | https://github.com/tetratech/baytrends |
| NeedsCompilation: | no |
| Materials: | README NEWS |
| CRAN checks: | baytrends results |
| Reference manual: | baytrends.pdf |
| Vignettes: |
Vignette, Create Seasonally Detrended Flow and Salinity Data Sets Vignette, QW |
| Package source: | baytrends_1.0.7.tar.gz |
| Windows binaries: | r-devel: baytrends_1.0.7.zip, r-release: baytrends_1.0.7.zip, r-oldrel: baytrends_1.0.7.zip |
| OS X binaries: | r-release: baytrends_1.0.7.tgz, r-oldrel: baytrends_1.0.7.tgz |
Please use the canonical form https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=baytrends to link to this page.


Noun:
Adjective:
On his 11th birthday, Harry Potter found out that he was a . things had been happening to him his entire life and now he knew why.